High-chair structure



Aug. 13, 1929. R, M, ELLlQT-r 1,724,569

HIGH CHAIR STRUCTURE Filed Nov. 18, 1927.

Patented ug. 13, 1929.

UNITED STATES l 1,124,569 PATENT ori-ica RALPH M. ELLIOTT, 0F HINNEA-POLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 UHRIS WILBUR LEE, 0F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

HIGH-CHAIR .STRUCTURE ,Application led November 18, 1927. Serial No. 234,155.

This invention relates to improvements in cliilds high chairs and es eciallyto 1mprovements on the tray an facllities for holding the child in the chair.

High chairs on the market at the present time are objectionable for several reasons.

In the first place, the tray or. tray supplort is not adjustable for the growth of the c ild and consequently often is not disposed 1n the proper position for the child to conveniently reach the articles of food supportedv thereon. Also, in most high chairs the tray or tray support swings on a horizontal axis, is diiicult to swing over the head of the child and often the child can tip the tray and its contents by swinging the tray support upwardly. y Furthermoret in most commercial hi h chairs at this t1me the child can slip own beneath the tray and the seat and so fall out ofthe chair, sometimes injuring himself and oiten tipping the dishes and food and causing considerable damage.

It is the main object of my invention to'l provide an eilicient high chair which will obviate the objections above noted and 1n which t-he tray or tray support will be adjustable for the growth of the child to always support the food in proper position with reference to the child.

Another object is to provide in high chair structure, an adjustable tray having slidable relation with the arms of the chair and adapted to be easily removed from the chair or attached thereto and utilized to carry in food to the child.

A further object is to provide an eicient high chair structure, including'means associated with the tray for preventing the child from slipping downwardly between the tray and the seat and so falling out of the chair.

These and other objects and advanta es will be apparent from the following escription made in connection with the accompan ing drawings wherein like referyence c aracters refer to similar parts .Fig 1, showing the manner in which the tray is adjustably mounted and locked in a desired position to the arms of the chair;

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectionA preferred form of t e invention illustrated in Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary front elevation showing the modi ed means for preventing the child :from falling out of the chair or slipping between the tray and the seat of the chair;

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section taken on the line 9 9 of Fig. 7. I

The general structure of my high chair may be similar to any of the conventional high chairs marketed at this time, with the exception of the arms and tray of the chair. Thus, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the chair comprises a suitable horizontally disposed seat 10 supported on a plurality of legs r1l preferably having their lower ends spread well apart to furnish an adequatey base. The concave back 12 is inclined at a slight angle to the vertical and is connected with the rear ends of a pair of spacedV short distance from the lower edge of the T head portion. Spaced attachment lugs or ears 13b may depend from flanges 13a and y may be secured tothe upper ends of the vertical rungs 14, said rungs being mortised at their lower ends in the edges of the chair seat 10. The inwardl disposed edges of my arms 13 on the un er side are provided with a series of teeth 13C, said teeth being inclined rearwardly.

My tray 15 includes the forwardly disosed food holding portion 15'a lsupported tween the sides 15". Said sides 15b are iio preferably hollow and open ended being of substantially rectangular cross section, andl of'such proportion that they may easily slide over the parallel arms 13. A substantially central elongated slot c is formed at the bottom of each arm extending from the open end thereof forwardly for some distance and dis osed longitudinally of said arm. Obvious y, as shown in Fig. 3, slot 15c accommodates the stem portion of the T-shaped arm, lwhile the under surface ofthe tray s'ides 15b 'at the outer portions bear against the flanges 13a, thus preventing the upper surface of the arms 13 from becoming marred due to engagement with theunder surface of the tray sides. Relatively small recesses 1 5d -are formed through the lower portions of the sides of the tray adjacent the rear ends thereof, said recesses being substantially alined with the teeth 13 carried by the arms 13.

having its engagement end working through the recesses 15d and yieldingly held in engagement with teeth 13c to lock the tray 15 to the arms of the chair against withdrawal. As illustratedbecause of the rearward inclination of teeth 13, tray 15 may be pushed rearwardly against the bod of the child without requiring manipulation of the pawl 16, but cannot be moved forwardlyl or outwardly. Stop screws may be threadedly secured in different positions to the outer4 edges of the tray sides 15b to adjustably limit the inwardmovement of the'tray.

' Av pair of depending posts 17 are rigidly supported from the under side of the tray beingdisposed preferably adjacent the sides thereof, and upon `said posts a tubular U- shaped guard 18 is adjustably supported. As

illustrated, guard 18 comprises av substantially horizontal portion having up-turned tubular ends telescoping over the posts 17. Suitable set screws 19 provided with lmurled handles are carried by the up-turned ends of the guard 18 adapted to be set against the posts t17 to secure the guard at -a desired eight within, of course, certain limits.

Assuming the device assembled as illustrated in Fig. 1, with the tray`15 properly disposed to position dishes on the `tray conveniently `for the child, it is only necessary to reach inwardly of the tray sides 15b and press the handles ofthe paw1s'16 to withdraw the tray fromthe arms. The tray may be moved longitudinally of the arms 13 with dishes or artlcles of food thereon and said articles may be carried to the kitchen without removal from the tray. In attaching the tra to the arms, the open ends of the tra si es 15b are telescoped over the arms 13 an the tray moved rearwardly, the inclined.

teeth 13 permitting this movement, but, nevertheless,flocking the tray against .forward displacement. The adjusts. le stop 20 llimits the extreme inward position of the tray and the position of the stop may be varied within certain limits to .be positioned correctly for the size ofthe child.

The guard 18 obviously may be adjusted and set at various levels and its. purpose is to prevent the child from sliding between the tray and the seat and falling out of the chair, or to prevent the child from wiggling ug'and standing on the seat 'of the chair. T is guard is also adjustable with the growth of the child and may be so disposedthat it will be impossible for the child-to free himself in any way from the chair.

A slightly modified form of the invention is illustrated in- Figs. 5 and 6. lThe general construction of the chair will be the same asl that shown in the preferred embodiment. Here, however, the arms 21 ofthe chair, while being disposed horizontally and parallel, are rovided at their under side with a series o sharply inclined teeth 21, the inclination and formation of said teeth being such that when engaged by a co-operating rearwardly inclined tooth 22', the shorter abutment surface of the teeth will be slightly interlocked preventing disengagement of the tray from the arms until the tray has been moved slightly rearwardly. In other words,

said shorter abutment surfaces of the teeth are disposed at an incline to the vertical.

In this modied'form of the invention, the sidesof the tray are provided with hinged flaps 22 swingable on horizontal axes substantially coincident with the lower edges at the outer sides of the tray, said flaps carry- V ing the co-operating tooth 22 previously referred to. c

To remove this modified tray, it is only necessary to swing the flaps 22 downwardly and outwardly which may be facilitated bysmall handles 23 rigidly carried by the lower surface of the said aps. In other res ects, except for the differences above note the modified form illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 is similar to the preferred embodiment of the invention. j

In Figures 7 to 9 inclusive, a. modified form of guard is illustrated, adapted to be applied to all forms ofl high chalrs having substantially vertically disposed Here a vertically adjustable clamping collar 24 is secured to one of the forward rungs of the high chair, said collar ri 'dly carrying a"loop 24a into which tubu ar rod 25 is loosel hinged. I prefer to telesco in rod,` 25 a rod of relatively small iameter A26, which may have its inner end provided rungs.

Withrlhe outer end of rod-26 may be provided I with any suitable locking element, and, as illustrated, a simple form of locking element may'constitute a sharply turned end 26'? "which *may be moved horizontally between bifurcated ends 27a of a co-operatin retaining member rigidly carried-by an a justable clamping collar 27. Said clamping collar is secured to the forward rung of the chair oppositely disposed to the rung to which clamping collar 2,4 is secured.' A spring 'formed lby rods` 25 and 26 in closed 'position. It lwill 'be seen that the hei ht of rods and 26 may be quic y andeasily adjusted by varying the vertical position of the clamping collars 24 and 27 on their respective rungs. With said guard it will be impossible for the child to wiggle out yof the chair and to stand up on the chair, since the movement of his legs will be ,prevented by the guard in (so-operation with the chair seat 10.

Fromthe foregoing description, it will be seentthat I have invented a simple but highly eiiicient high chair structure, overcoming the diiiculties and objections' prevalent to standard high chairs on the market at this time. M device insures the safety of the child in t ev chair-'as well as provides a convenient and readily adjustable tray and4 guard adapted to support the food conveniently fort e child and adapted tobe readily removed without discomtorting the child in any way. vPreviously stated, the tray may be, used to carry in or carry. out dishes or food. It will a so be obvious that with my improved device, the tray is highly sanitary, since it can be readily removed and taken to the kitchen for cleaning.

It will, of course, beunderstood that various changes may be made in the form, de-

tails, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from thev scope of the resent invention, which, generally state consists in the matter shown and described and set forth in the appended'claims. What is claimed is:

1. In a chair havmg a pair of spaced substantially horizontal arms, a tray or `supporting member having substantially tubular sides adapted to rtelescope over said arms and slide thereon, a series of teeth longitudinally disposed on the bottom of one/of said arms, and a pawl mounted on the bottom ofone of said sides oi the tray, said pawl being adapted to interlock with said teeth to retain said tray on said arms in a desired position.

2. The structure set :forth in claim 1, and horizontal bearing flanges spaced below the bottoms of said arms'and secured to said arms, said bearing flanges supporting the` bottom portions'of the traysides'to maintain the upper spaced slightly a ove the topsof said arms.

3. Ina chair having spaced arms provided with substantially arallel forward portions, -a removable tray aving parallel side members, said side members comprising elongated channels` adaptedfto have telescopic relation with said arms, and inturned retaining portions at the bottom of said channels adapted to engage the bottomsof said chair arms, a series of spaced detents, such as teeth, on one of thelongitudinal edges of Aone of said arms and a pawl mounted on the corresponding longitudinal edge of one of said tray sides, said pawl being adapted to interlock with said teeth to retain said tray on sald arms in a desired position.

In testimony whereof I aiiix m signature.

' f RALPH M. EZLIOTT.

,Y y n DlSCLJ-UMER A 1,724,569.-Ralh M. Elliott, Minneapolis, Minn. Ilma-CHAIR STRUCTURE. Patent dated Wie Lehman Company of America, Inc. Hereby disclaims cl'aim' 3 of said patent..

Gazette March 21,194.4]

ortions of said tray sidesv eri ugust 13, 1929. Disclaimer filed February 24, 1944, by the assignee, 

